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The cost-friendly Business Incentive Strategy (BIS) rolled out in October last year by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), would end this month. The BIS is primarily to ensure formalization of businesses by MSMEs for the overall benefit of the economy. The Commission has so far registered over 73,000 companies in the last three months under the BIS. Acting registrar-general of the Commission, Lady Azuka Azinge, who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja, said when compared to the corresponding year of 2017, when about 30,000 companies were registered, the BIS had been very successful. The BIS involves the reduction in fees from N10,000 to N5,000 initially for 3 months starting from  October 1, to December 31, 2018, but Azinge said based on popular demand, the period was extended by another three months beginning from January 31 to March, 2019. She said the BIS is Commission’s contribution to the development and growth of the MSMEs in Nigeria. Azinge also hinted that as at today, business names certificates were yet to be collected by their owners in the Commission’s offices nationwide. She therefore implored those concerned to come forward and collect them.   Source: Leadership

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced that the on-going Business Incentive Strategy (BIS) will end by March, 31st 2019. The Acting Registrar General, Lady Azuka Azinge at the Commerce and Industry Correspondent Association of Nigeria (CICAN) annual retreat and capacity building workshop on Friday in Abuja, urged members of the public to ensure they register their businesses. According to her, “the BIS involves eduction in fees from N10,000 to N5,000 initially for a 3 months period 1st October to 31st December, 2018. “ She said based on popular demand, period was extended by another 3 months from January 1st to March 31st 2019, adding that the BIS registration is ongoing at CAC offices nationwide. She said essence of the reforms is to make business registration and regulation as simple as possible. “While the BIS is to ensure formalization of businesses by MSMEs for the overall benefit of the economy. “The BIS is Commission’s contribution to the development and growth of the MSMEs in Nigeria. “Importance of MSMEs and its contribution to GDP, Realization that a large number of the MSMEs were “0” registered. “Benefits of registration/formalization of their business, Open Bank Accounts, Access to Credit, Corporate Governance,” she said. On the retreat, Lady Azinge said the media occupies a very strategic placea in society, noting that without the media, the requisite public awareness of government initiatives and programmes cannot achieve the desired impact. She commended the long standing cordial relationship between ClCAN and the Commission.   Source: Blueprint

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has registered not less than 73,000 companies within three months under its cost-friendly Business Incentive Strategy (BIS) rolled out in October last year. Acting registrar-general of the Commission, Lady Azuka Azinge, who made this known in Abuja, yesterday, said the Commission would record a higher number of registration in the first quarter of 2019. “From 1st October to 31st December 2018, we registered 73,000 companies, if you look at the corresponding year, about 30,000 companies were registered in 2017, so you can see the BIS was successful. “Based on popular demand, we have to go back to the minister for extension which started from January 1 to March 31 2019, we are almost at the tail end of the second part and so far we are exceeding what we did last year. We expect to see much higher number which is what we are seeing already in our record,” she said. Azinge, therefore called on the private sector operators to take advantage of the BIS window which ends on March 31, 2019, to register their business name at reduced fee of N5, 000, adding that there was no going back on the various initiatives put in place to ensure ease of doing business in the country. “The Commission has undertaken many initiatives. We are fully decentralised in our operations, whereby you now have online registration of business names, limited liability companies as well as the incorporated trustees, which can be registered online 24 hours within which you get your certificate. Payments are also done online, there is also integration with the FIRS on issue of the stamp duty,” she said.   Source: Leadership

The cost for the registration of business names in Nigeria has been reduced from N10,000 to N5,000. This was announced by the Corporate Affairs Commission on Wednesday, March 6 – According to CAC, the reduced cost of business name registration will end on Sunday, March 31. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced a reduction in the cost of business names’ registration. The commission on Wednesday, March 6, said the registration fee for business names in Nigeria has been reduced from N10,000 to N5,000. However, the CAC said the reduction in cost for business name registration will end on Sunday, March 31. The commission also advised the general public to take advantage of the Business Incentive Strategy (BIS) window to formalize their businesses before the deadline. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the CAC had earlier promised to register business names within six hours of successful application. The commission said it will ensure an effective deployment of information technology for registration of business names. During the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, the acting registrar of the commission, Azuka Azinge, said the move is part of efforts aimed at addressing some of the bottlenecks usually encountered during the registration of business names.   Source: Legit

The Acting Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Lady Azuka Azinge, has said that the Federal Government reviewed the fee for business registration downward by 50 per cent to encourage Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to formalise their businesses. She said this when the management of Daily Trust Newspaper visited her in the CAC headquarters in Abuja yesterday. Represented by the Commission’s Director of Registry, Mr  Abdul Hakeem Mohammed, Lady Azinge said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimated that about 34 million SMEs operate in the informal sector of the economy and the fee reduction was targeted at enrolling them into the formal sector of the economy. She said the reduction, which was a part of the Commission’s Business Incentive Strategy (BIS), brought down the fee for business registration from N10, 000 to N5,000 to encourage more SMEs to give their businesses formal identities. The CAC boss said the incentive was meant to last for the last quarter of 2018 but popular demand led to an extension to March 31, 2019. She urged SMEs that are yet to take advantage of the incentive window to register their business names before the deadline. The Head of Public Affairs Department of CAC, Mr. Godfrey Ike, commended Daily Trust for being professional and setting the pace for journalism practice in Nigeria.     Source: Daily Trust

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that measures were put in place to ensure that Observer Groups accredited for the 2019 general elections were apolitical. The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that measures were put in place to ensure that Observer Groups accredited for the 2019 general elections were apolitical. INEC National Commissioner, Prof. Antonia Okoosi-Simbine, who is the Chairperson, Election and Party Monitoring Committee, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja. Okoosi-Simbine said that considering the importance of elections, the commission carried out in house due diligence to ensure that accredited observers were genuine and not those infiltrated by political parties or politicians. She said one of the measures employed by the commission in accrediting observers was to relate with groups that had experience or well known for having worked with INEC. She said: “Another criteria is that such group must be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. A lot of the groups that are working for politicians or political parties are not usually registered with the CAC.” Okoosi-Simbine said though some partisan groups always try to apply for accreditation but with due diligence by the commission, such groups were denied accreditation. She said that even after accreditation, INEC could withdraw the accreditation of any group considered inimical to the electoral process. Okoosi-Simbine said that observers had helped the commission to improve the electoral process through their reports. She cited the adoption of simultaneous accreditation and voting system as one of the recommendations by observer groups after the 2015 general elections. She said: “We considered that as a very important suggestion because we noted that approximately two million people accredited during the 2015 general elections did not return to vote.” Asked if INEC was paying observer groups, Okoosi-Simbine said that the commission was not funding any group to observe Nigeria elections, saying they were expected to source their funds. She said: “The commission absolutely pays nothing. It does not keep accommodation; it does not give transport to observer groups. “However, the process of observation cost the commission money. In the sense that the commission has to pay for venue, tea and coffee break, it has to provide the kits that are provided for observers. “The commission has to produce it so that everybody is dressed in a uniform manner and the polling officers can easily identify them as they come to the polling units. “So the commission actually spends money on these processes.’’ She advised accredited observer groups to stick to approved guidelines by the commission in carrying out their duties. Okoosi-Simbine reminded them that they were not to monitor but observe elections and advised them to report any anomaly to the commission.       Source: The Eagle

Oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria got a total of 12,383 service permits in 2018 for the services rendered in the sector. The Department of Petroleum Resources said the service permits were issued in three categories. In a document detailing some of its achievements in 2018, which was obtained by our correspondent from the agency in Abuja on Friday, the DPR outlined the categories as general, major and special. The agency said, “DPR granted a total of 12,383 oil and gas industry service permits in 2018. The permits include 2,730 in the general category; 5,963 in the major category; and 3,690 in the special category.” The DPR has the statutory responsibility of ensuring compliance with petroleum laws, regulations and guidelines in the oil and gas industry. The discharge of these responsibilities involved monitoring of operations at drilling sites, production wells, production platforms and flow stations, crude oil export terminals, refineries, storage depots, pump stations and retail outlets. It also discharges these responsibilities by monitoring any other location where petroleum is either stored or sold and all pipelines carrying crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products while carrying out the additional functions that include the processing of industry applications for leases, licences and permits. On the basis of the legal framework for the service permits, the agency stated that any service company that operated in the oil and gas sector without a service permit would be in contravention of the provision of the DPR regulation. In its guidelines for oil and gas industry service companies permit, the DPR said a company might apply for and obtain permits in more than one category provided it was registered by Corporate Affairs Commission and had the appropriate legal status as well as the competencies, capabilities or equipment to carry out the jobs. It said the guidelines were issued pursuant to Section 8, subsection 1(a) and 9, subsection 1(a) & (h) of the Petroleum (Drilling and Production) Amendment Regulations 1988, which empowered the director of petroleum resources to formulate regulations/guidelines from time to time for the smooth and safe operations in the oil and gas industry.   Source: Punch

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), yesterday, described the passage of the Companies and Allied Matters Bill by National Assembly as a feat, monumental and demonstrative of the harmonious relationship existing between the two chambers of the Eighth Assembly. Reacting to the passage of the bill by the House of Representatives after Third Reading on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, the Acting Registrar-General of the commission, Lady Azuka Azinge noted that the bill, which seeks to repeal the extant statute (the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004) and enact another statute in its place, represented one of the biggest pieces of legislative review in the history of the National Assembly. She noted further that, since the extant statute was enacted almost 30 years ago, it had not witnessed any significant review. Lady Azinge stated that the main thrust of the bill was to ensure the ease of starting and growing business in Nigeria; ensure more appropriate regulation for MSMEs; enhance transparency and shareholder engagement; align regulatory framework with international best practice for competitiveness and, in the context of a global economy, make Nigeria an investment destination of choice. Describing the bill as testimonial of a partnership that worked, she acknowledged the collaboration between the commission, government and private sector stakeholders. She said in particular the support of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), through its secretariat, the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES); the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER); the Technical Advisory Committee of the Senate; the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI); the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMJ); the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Nigerian Bar Association through its Section on Business Law (SBL-NBA); the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN); the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA); and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). Others were the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC); the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN); the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN); the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN); the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME); Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and several professional firms. Azinge expressed optimism that the b would receive the assent of the President very soon, stressing the commitment of the commission to double its efforts of registering more businesses from now on compared to the three million figure recorded since inception. It would be recalled that the bill originated from and was passed by the Senate on Tuesday, May 15, 2018.     Source:  The sun

The Laws and Rights Awareness Initiative has, through its trustees, brought an action against the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court. In the suit, the Laws and Rights Awareness Initiative is challenging the power of the FIRS to provide commercial sponsorship or support to entertainment concerts and shows. In the originating summons filed by their counsel, Olumide Babalola and Mofesomo Tayo-Oyetibo. The Initiative alleges that the FIRS has been sponsoring and supporting entertainment events and concerts such as the Festival of Lights, Davido Live in Concert and King Coal in Concert when it has no power to do so under the Federal Inland Revenue Service Act, as a result of which it has acted beyond the scope of its powers under the Act. The reliefs sought in the Originating Summons include a declaration of the Federal High Court that it is ultra vires the FIRS and unlawful for it to defray any money towards the sponsorship or any other form of support howsoever called, of concerts, entertainment shows or any other event howsoever called, which are not stipulated as part of the statutory expenditure of the FIRS under section 16 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Act. The Initiative also seeks an Order of injunction restraining the FIRS from defraying any amount towards any event not mentioned in section 16 of the Act or any other Act of the National Assembly. The FIRS is yet to file a defence to the action. Source: Guardian